Chapter 297

“You little—okay, he screwed up, but I put a stop to it afterward, didn’t I? You didn’t even get hurt,” Caitlin said, her voice thick and whiny, as if she were the one wronged.

Stephanie let out a dry laugh, one side of her mouth twitching upward. “Oh, got it. So I’m always the bad guy here, huh?”

Caitlin fumbled. “I…”

Stephanie’s dig hit her hard, tightening her chest like a weight had dropped on it.

“I’ve always wanted us to get along. Why do you have to act like this? I’ve been trying so hard to keep things cool,” Caitlin said, her voice shaky and seemingly full of hurt.

Her voice climbed, cracking with emotion. “Olivia’s out there with no help, Tyler’s got one hand left, and the company’s about to crash.”

“And this is what I get for begging you to come back? Stephanie, tell me—what else are you gonna do to us?” Caitlin’s scream ripped through the phone, raw and frantic.

Stephanie watched her play the victim card, as if it were all her fault. Her heart went cold.

This lady—her mom? She scoffed quietly to herself.

Stephanie snorted, her voice still steady. “Pretty sure I’m the one who paid first.”

“I’ve almost died because of you guys more than once.” She leaned on the window, staring out at nothing.

There was that mess with Olivia, then Tyler coming at her three different times. The third time, she’d smashed one of his hands—and that finally shut him up.

“I’m not good at a lot,” she said, pausing, “but if someone messes with me, I mess back. If you really feel sorry for Olivia and Tyler…”

She went on, “Tell them to stay the hell away from me. And drop the ‘family’ act—we were never tight. All this fake stuff just turns into traps, and when they fall apart, I’m the one who ends up swinging. Then you still point at me like I’m the jerk.”

“Tsk tsk.” She clicked her tongue, so over this family.

That was her take on the Harts—short, simple, done. Every time Olivia got close, she’d act all friendly, but it was a setup. Got her butt kicked how many times now? Still didn’t learn a thing.

“You—you…” Caitlin stuttered, stuck in a loop with nothing to say.

When she couldn’t even get a sentence out, Stephanie ran out of patience and hung up.

The Hart family? Whatever “price” they’d paid, she figured they were even enough.

Stephanie knew the second she got back to Fiorenza, the Hart family would find every excuse in the book to blow up her phone again. She was over playing nice—she didn’t have the energy for it anymore.

She went right up to Elliot and said, sharp and straight, “Mr. Grant.”

When she locked eyes with him—those cold, piercing eyes that reminded her so much of Sebastian’s—her mind flicked back to that time he’d pulled a gun without even flinching. Honestly, he still creeped her out a little. Her knees even shook for a second.

But as soon as Elliot saw it was her, the ice in his stare melted. He nodded politely. “Miss.”

Stephanie scratched the back of her head, keeping it casual but firm. “Hey, could you get me a new SIM card?”

She’d thought it through—no more dodging it. Her old number was done, harassed to death. She really wondered how the Harts even pulled it off—borrowing one phone after another, call after call. In the last few weeks, they must’ve used at least a hundred different numbers. Blocking wasn’t enough anymore. Stephanie was ready to throw them into the black hole of no-contact, where she’d never hear a peep again.

When Sebastian came upstairs, he caught Stephanie mid-chat, and she was dead-set on ditching her number.

“Go to the study and grab her a new phone,” Sebastian said, leaning against the doorframe.

When Stephanie spotted Sebastian, she let go of Elliot and bounced over, grinning wide. Sebastian reached out, messing up her soft hair before sliding his arm around her, pulling her in close as if it were second nature.

“Should’ve done this a long time ago.” His deep voice came out warm, teasing her just a little.

Stephanie’s chest tightened a bit. She tilted her head up at him, nodding like a kid who got busted. “Not just now—things at the studio have been crazy.”

That phone was her work line too, after all. She’d been glued to it. But with her workload finally easing up, she could ditch it. It was like a brick off her shoulders.

Sebastian laughed, his eyes softening. “Fair enough. You’re running the show now.”

“Hell yeah I am.” Stephanie stood taller, sticking her chin out with a cocky little smirk.

“Made two million bucks last year,” she bragged, practically beaming with pride.

She probably shouldn’t have mentioned the two million, though. The second she did, Elliot’s eye twitched, and he barely swallowed a laugh.

‘Sebastian’s totally messing with her like she’s a little kid,’ Elliot thought, keeping it to himself. ‘How long’s he going to keep this up?’